1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical instruments used in intraoral tooth prosthodontics restorations. More particularly the present invention relates to the field of dental tools for carrying various components of anatomical dental restorative systems used in intraoral tooth prosthodontics restorations.
2. Description of The Prior Art
Anatomical dental restorative systems are widely used in intraoral tooth prosthodontics restorations. The most often used components of a complete anatomical dental restorative system include implant fixtures, healing cap assemblies, impression coping assemblies, temporary and anatomic abutment assemblies, and screw bolts. Generally, a tooth prosthodontics restoration involves the following procedures.
The implant fixture is first installed into a socket prepared in the alveolus of the jawbone where a tooth has been extracted or otherwise lost. A cover screw is then used for sealing the top screw hole of the implant during the time the jaw bone is growing about the implant. After osseointegration of the implant, the gingiva is reopened and the cover screw is removed and replaced by a healing cap, which provides a predetermined contour to the re-healing gingival tissue.
After the re-opened gingival tissue has healed about the healing cap, the healing cap is removed so that an impression of the implant fixture and the surrounding gingival tissue can be made. The exposed end of the implant fixture typically has a hexagonal interface for defining the orientation of the attachment of a tooth analogue. The impression coping is attached to the implant fixture to make the impression for transferring to a working cast the natural dentition as well as both the exact position and the exact rotational alignment of the hexagonal interface of the implant fixture. Once the impression is made, it is removed from the patient's oral cavity and the impression coping is also removed. The impression coping is then attached to an analogue of the implant fixture and inserted back to the impression, and dental stone or die material is poured in to make the working cast for constructing the tooth analogue.
The temporary abutment can be fixed onto the implant fixture for supporting the tooth analogue, so the tooth analogue can be further finely finished to fit the actual contours of the patient's oral cavity. Finally, once everything is satisfactory, the completed tooth analogue can be permanently attached to the implant fixture by the anatomic abutment, and the intraoral tooth prosthodontics restoration is completed.
However, in intraoral tooth restoration operations, it is often very difficult to maneuver the various components of the anatomic dental implant system by hand. There are two main reasons for this difficulty. First, the sizes of the dental implant components, including impression copings, healing caps, temporary and anatomic abutments, and screw bolts, are very small. The overall length and maximum diameter of a typical dental implant component are both less than one centimeter. The small configurations of the dental implant components make them hard to handle. Second, the internal space of a patient's oral cavity is very limited, and frequently the location of the tooth restoration is hard to reach through the patient's mouth. The narrow space and limited access of the patients' oral cavity again makes it very difficult to handle the various dental components during an intraoral tooth restoration operation.
The small configuration of the anatomical dental restorative components and the limited access to the patients' oral cavities also make it easy to have an anatomical dental restorative component lost in a patient's oral cavity when the dentist tries to maneuver it within the patient's oral cavity, particularly when the tooth prosthodontics restoration is performed at a location adjacent the back of the patient's mouth.
It is therefore very desirable to have a carrying tool for intraoral tooth restoration operations, which tool can be used to maneuver a small anatomical dental restorative component inside a patient's oral cavity. There is no satisfactory tool which is specially designed to be used for this purpose.